A Fine Gael councillor is urging the Data Protection Commission to give Local Authorities access to traffic collision data.
Tommy Griffin raised the motion at the September meeting of Castleisland-Corca Dhuibhne municipal district.
He requested an urgent review of road traffic collision data on the R561 between Inch and Castlemaine; and for measures to be introduced to slow traffic down.
Cllr Griffin said this is a very busy route between Dingle and Killarney, with thousands of people using it daily.
He claims the road has been closed at least six times in the past year due to traffic collisions and that there has been several serious crashes on this route in the last three years.
In response, Kerry County Council said due to a data protection issue it doesn’t have access to such data and therefore is not in the position to carry out a review of crashes along the R561.
Cllr Griffin aired his astonishment at this, as he says data around accidents would have to be considered in any road safety scheme; he asked for this to be investigated.
Independent councillor Jackie Healy-Rae described it as ludacris that the council did not have access to such data; adding when low-cost safety measures need to be put in place, the local authority has to apply for it.
He added that the local authority is being hampered by GDPR, and that all councillors are looking for is basic data to improve road safety.
In response to Cllr Griffin’s motion, the council says specific locations along the route could be examined for submissions under the Low-Cost Safety Improvement Programme.
It also advised it continues to work with Gardaí in their efforts to ensure compliance with speed limits.
